U.S. Treasury Cancels Booz Allen Contracts Over Tax Data Breach

The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Monday the cancellation of all 31 contracts it holds with consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, a move tied to a former employee's role in a major data breach that exposed confidential tax information, including President Donald Trump's returns.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed the decision, which affects agreements worth approximately $4.8 million in annual spending and $21 million in total obligations. The action stems from the 2018-2020 activities of Charles Edward Littlejohn, a Booz Allen employee at the time, who accessed and leaked sensitive tax data through his work as an Internal Revenue Service contractor. Littlejohn targeted the information with the intent to disclose it publicly, including Trump's returns to The New York Times and data on other high-profile individuals, such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, to outlets like ProPublica.

The breach initially appeared to impact around 70,000 taxpayers, but the IRS later determined it affected about 406,000 individuals and businesses. Littlejohn pleaded guilty in October 2023 to felony charges of unauthorized disclosure of tax returns and was sentenced in January 2024 to the...